Sri Lankan government raided private warehouses outside capital Colombo to seize thousands of tonnes of sugar last week. The raids came a day after the country declaring a state of emergency due to food shortages.

Major General Senarath Niwunhella, who was named commissioner-general of essential services told AFP at least 13 000 tonnes of white and brown sugar were found in the raids.¹

"Today we started with sugar and will expand this action to other commodities like wheat flour and rice too if importers do not release their stocks to the market," he said.

Niwunhella said the objective of the raids is to prevent hoarding, adding that seized stocks will be given to state-owned retail stores to sell for below the open market price.

AFP reported the country is experiencing sharp price rises for rice, onions, and potatoes, while long queues have formed outside stores because of shortages of milk powder, kerosene oil, and cooking gas.

Experts blame the food crisis on a shortage of foreign exchange to import and maintain buffer stocks.

The country’s foreign reserves plummeted to $2.8 billion by the end of July from $7.5 billion in November 2019.²

The Sri Lankan rupee has lost almost 20% against the US dollar since the economy contracted by a record 3.6% in 2020 due to COVID-19 measures.

References:

¹ Sri Lanka raids sugar stocks as food shortages bite - AFP

² Sri Lanka declares emergency over food, forex crisis - AA

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9977325/Supermarket-shorta...

Supermarket shortages may last 'FOREVER': Food and Drink Federation chief gives stark warning that the days of shoppers getting anything they want are 'over' - as farmer says crisis is 'killing small business'

Warning came from Ian Wright, CEO of Food and Drink Federation, who said issues would 'only get worse'
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, who runs popular Black Farmer food range, shared picture of empty shelves
Said smaller business like his were suffering because producers had begun only fulfilling orders of big rivals

Empty shelves in the water aisle of the Tesco store at St Rollox in Glasgow in July. The boss of the Food and Drink Federation has said that the days when UK consumers could expect to pick up nearly whatever product they want whenever they want from supermarket shelves are over

https://www.producer.com/livestock/drought-forces-north-american-ra...

Drought forces North American ranchers to sell off their future

Liquidations of breeding stock are expected to limit cattle production in the coming years, tightening North America's beef supply and driving up consumer prices, according to two dozen ranchers and cattle experts.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-02/food-prices-driv...

Your Food Prices Are at Risk as the World Runs Short of Workers

Whether it’s fruit pickers, slaughterhouse workers, truckers or waiters, the world’s food ecosystem is buckling due to a shortage of staff.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9958663/Farms-set-kill-bur...

Farms are set to kill and burn 100,000 pigs because of a post-Brexit butchers' shortage: Industry chiefs vent fury at Priti Patel for leaving key staff off list - but keeping ballet dancers

Farmers may be forced to destroy nearly 100,000 pigs due to butcher shortage
Figures say the animals face being killed due to post-Brexit shortage of workers
Home Secretary Priti Patel hasn't included job on a list of shortage occupations
The list would allow foreign butchers to enter the UK on a skilled worker visa

Farmers could be forced to destroy nearly 100,000 pigs because of a post-Brexit shortage of butchers to work in slaughterhouses, according to leading figures (stock image)

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/no-milk-or-water-shopp...

No milk or water: Shoppers face shortages at UK grocery stores ..

http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue072.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue120.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/theword/tword202.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta418.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue109.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/20sp2014.htm

Image: Major storable food supplier Augason Farms ceases operations for 90 days, citing collapsing supply chain

(Natural News) Storable food mega-supplier Augason Farms has ceased operations for 90 days, citing, “global raw-material shortages” and “substantial delays” in procurement and production.

“Regrettably, BCG [the parent company owner of Augason Farms] cannot fulfill your orders on time; therefore, this letter communicates our decision to suspend business for the next 90 days, effective immediately,” says an October 7th, 2021 letter issued by Mark Augason, President of Augason Farms, to Augason Farms distributors and retailers (see letter below).

“During these 90 days, we will secure and stockpile raw materials and take measures to accelerate our round-the-clock production output,” the letter continues. “We are confident that this reset period will help us better serve you with on-time, complete shipments in the future,” the letter adds.

Augason Farms has been a large-scale retailer on Amazon.com, Walmart and many other retail outlets, typically offering non-organic dried fruits, vegetables and meal mixes to the preparedness and survival community.

The full letter is shown here:

In addition to this letter to its distributors and retailers, the Augason Farms website has announced it is no longer processing online orders from customers. “Due to an extremely high order volume through all sales channels we are currently not able to receive any orders through our web site,” said an on-site message on Oct. 8th.

“We expect to turn this site back on just as soon as possible.”

For the record, we were disturbed to learn about this development. It is yet further evidence of the accelerating collapse of food supply lines. As we have repeatedly warned, the world is about to be plunged into a “Dark Winter” of extreme food scarcity, power grid / energy scarcity and accelerating spike protein fatalities occurring among the vaccinated.

The shuttering of Augason Farms for 90 days is only going to worsen the food scarcity at retail, causing people to scramble even more aggressively to try to locate dwindling food supplies.

In my opinion, the brain dead Democrats only seek to throw more stimulus money at this problem, creating yet more fake fiat currency chasing an ever-shrinking supply of goods. And since you can’t eat stimulus money, all the stimulus in the world is pointless if the supply lines are collapsing. The problem in today’s economy isn’t a lack of stimulus money, it’s a lack of labor due to all the COVID lockdowns (which are completely nonsensical and based on irrational junk science). This lack of labor is getting translated into food supply chain disruptions and transportation / logistics nightmares that mean fewer goods are available to end customers.

If this continues, the mass starvation and power grid failures will probably kill far more people than COVID ever could.

Our own storable foods operations at HealthRangerStore.com have been heavily impacted by the collapsing food supply chain. As we reported weeks ago, commercial food purchase contracts that we traditionally signed with food providers for 12 months of food deliveries have all but vanished. Commercial food suppliers told us in July that they, “could not guarantee any food deliveries beyond 90 days out.” Suppliers that used to offer credit terms are now demanding payment up front, or full payment upon delivery. And many commercial food orders are resulting in only partial deliveries, typically representing half of what was originally ordered.

The last time we put storable food buckets into our online inventory, they sold out in 90 minutes. We have remained out of stock ever since. (Our current production run will put items back into inventory on Nov. 11th, assuming the power grid stays up.)

There is no question whatsoever that the food supply chain in North America is rapidly collapsing. This is because elections have consequences, and the Democrats would seemingly rather see America locked down than working in productive jobs. If you pay people to stay home and not work, people will stay home and not work. Before long, the shelves are empty. It’s a page ripped right out of communist-style centrally-planned economies… which history has proven are horribly inefficient and lead to exactly the kind of supply chain failures we are witnessing at this very moment.

Those who remain in denial about this reality won’t be able to deny it for much longer, as the retail shelves are starting to run dry as well. Every nation, they say, is but nine meals away from a revolution. Those nine missed meals are arriving this winter, it seems.

We wish Augason Farms the best in resuming operations in 2022, should supply lines improve. However, we are extremely concerned that the picture is going to be far worse 90 days out. And those who fail to stockpile food in the next 30-60 days may find themselves literally starving to death in January / February (or begging FEMA for emergency food handouts).

Comment by Derrick Johnson on July 25, 2023 at 5:39am

India's rice export ban triggers panic buying at US supermarkets - sparking costs of 20-pound bag to soar from $16 to almost $50

India ordered a halt to its largest rice export to calm domestic prices
Videos and reports shared on social media show shoppers panic-buying in Texas, Michigan, New Jersey Alabama, Ohio, Illinois and California
The south Asian country accounts for 40 percent of world rice exports

India's rice export ban has triggered panic buying at US supermarkets, causing the price of a 20-pound bag to surge from $16 to almost $50 in some stores.

The south Asian country, which accounts for 40 percent of world rice exports, ordered a halt to its largest rice export category, non-basmati rice, on Thursday to calm domestic prices, sparking fears of global shortages.

Videos and reports shared on social media over the weekend show Indian-Americans standing in long lines or panic-buying rice in Texas, Michigan, New Jersey Alabama, Ohio, Illinois and California.

Some stores have hiked the price of a 20-pound bag to $46.99 and have started money-making schemes to capitalize on the panic, according to Business Line.

'A few desi grocery shops came up with innovative ideas to force customers to spend a minimum of $35-$50 on other items to purchase a single rice bag, which is outrageous,' a shopper told the outlet.

Rice prices in the US have shot up by around 11 percent on average, according to PBS Frontline.

One store in Mason, Ohio, is rationing the grain to one 20-pound bag per head, costing $24, PBS reported.

Non-basmati rice is the is the most common rice used in traditional American recipes, as well as in Asian and Mexican cuisine.

The move demonstrates the sensitivity of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to food inflation ahead of a general election nearly next year.

The Indian government said the ban would be effective from July 20, and only vessels currently loading would be allowed to export.

Parboiled rice, which represented 7.4 million tons of exports in 2022, is not included in the ban, the government specified.

Rice is a staple for more than 3 billion people, and nearly 90 percent of the water-intensive crop is produced in Asia, where the El Nino weather pattern usually brings lower rainfall.

But heavy rain in the north of India over the last few weeks has damaged newly-planted crops in Punjab and Haryana states.

Paddy fields have been submerged for over a week, destroying seedlings, and forcing farmers to wait before they can replant the rice seeds.

In other major rice-growing states, farmers have prepared paddy nurseries but have been unable to transplant the seedlings due to inadequate rainfall.

The area under rice cultivation had been expected to increase after New Delhi raised the rice purchase price, but farmers so far have planted rice paddy on an area 6 percent smaller than in 2022.

'In order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market, the government of India has amended the export policy,' the food ministry said in a statement that cited a 11.5 percent increase in retail prices over 12 months.

His administration has extended a ban on wheat exports after curbing rice shipments in September 2022. It also capped sugar exports this year as cane yields dropped.

This week, prices of rice exported from Vietnam, the world's third-largest exporter after India and Thailand, soared to their highest in more than a decade on growing supply concerns due to El Nino.

Vietnam's 5 percent broken rice was offered at $515-$525 per metric ton - its highest since 2011. India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety hovered near a five-year peak at $421-$428 per metric ton.

Buyers may move to Thailand and Vietnam, but their 5 percent broken rice could cost $600 per metric ton, said one European trader.

China and the Philippines, who generally buy Vietnamese and Thai rice, will be forced to pay substantially higher prices, another European dealer said.

While Thailand and Vietnam don't have enough inventories to plug the shortfall, African buyers would be most affected by India's decision, Rao said, adding that many countries will urge New Delhi to resume shipments.

Other top buyers of Indian rice include Benin, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo, Guinea, Bangladesh and Nepal.

'India would disrupt the global rice market with far greater velocity than Ukraine did in the wheat market with Russia's invasion,' B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association told Reuters.

Last week Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Black Sea Grain Initiative would be suspended until demands to get Russian food and fertilizer to the world are met. An attack Monday on a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia was not a factor in the decision, he said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12331565/Indias-rice-expor...

Comment by Ovidiu Pricopi on May 26, 2022 at 3:22am: U.S. spring wheat planting is advancing at the slowest pace in more than 20 years and was only 49% complete as of Sunday. Average for the date is 83%. Minnesota is only 11% planted vs 90% avg. North Dakota 27% vs 80% avg. Those two states grow two-thirds of the U.S. crop.

Comment by KM on October 10, 2021 at 5:07am: https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-10-08-storable-food-supplier-augas...

Major storable food supplier Augason Farms ceases operations for 90 days, citing collapsing supply chain

(Natural News) Storable food mega-supplier Augason Farms has ceased operations for 90 days, citing, “global raw-material shortages” and “substantial delays” in procurement and production.

“Regrettably, BCG [the parent company owner of Augason Farms] cannot fulfill your orders on time; therefore, this letter communicates our decision to suspend business for the next 90 days, effective immediately,” says an October 7th, 2021 letter issued by Mark Augason, President of Augason Farms, to Augason Farms distributors and retailers (see letter below).

“During these 90 days, we will secure and stockpile raw materials and take measures to accelerate our round-the-clock production output,” the letter continues. “We are confident that this reset period will help us better serve you with on-time, complete shipments in the future,” the letter adds.

Augason Farms has been a large-scale retailer on Amazon.com, Walmart and many other retail outlets, typically offering non-organic dried fruits, vegetables and meal mixes to the preparedness and survival community.

The full letter is shown here:

In addition to this letter to its distributors and retailers, the Augason Farms website has announced it is no longer processing online orders from customers. “Due to an extremely high order volume through all sales channels we are currently not able to receive any orders through our web site,” said an on-site message on Oct. 8th.

“We expect to turn this site back on just as soon as possible.”

For the record, we were disturbed to learn about this development. It is yet further evidence of the accelerating collapse of food supply lines. As we have repeatedly warned, the world is about to be plunged into a “Dark Winter” of extreme food scarcity, power grid / energy scarcity and accelerating spike protein fatalities occurring among the vaccinated.

The shuttering of Augason Farms for 90 days is only going to worsen the food scarcity at retail, causing people to scramble even more aggressively to try to locate dwindling food supplies.

In my opinion, the brain dead Democrats only seek to throw more stimulus money at this problem, creating yet more fake fiat currency chasing an ever-shrinking supply of goods. And since you can’t eat stimulus money, all the stimulus in the world is pointless if the supply lines are collapsing. The problem in today’s economy isn’t a lack of stimulus money, it’s a lack of labor due to all the COVID lockdowns (which are completely nonsensical and based on irrational junk science). This lack of labor is getting translated into food supply chain disruptions and transportation / logistics nightmares that mean fewer goods are available to end customers.

If this continues, the mass starvation and power grid failures will probably kill far more people than COVID ever could.

Our own storable foods operations at HealthRangerStore.com have been heavily impacted by the collapsing food supply chain. As we reported weeks ago, commercial food purchase contracts that we traditionally signed with food providers for 12 months of food deliveries have all but vanished. Commercial food suppliers told us in July that they, “could not guarantee any food deliveries beyond 90 days out.” Suppliers that used to offer credit terms are now demanding payment up front, or full payment upon delivery. And many commercial food orders are resulting in only partial deliveries, typically representing half of what was originally ordered.

The last time we put storable food buckets into our online inventory, they sold out in 90 minutes. We have remained out of stock ever since. (Our current production run will put items back into inventory on Nov. 11th, assuming the power grid stays up.)

There is no question whatsoever that the food supply chain in North America is rapidly collapsing. This is because elections have consequences, and the Democrats would seemingly rather see America locked down than working in productive jobs. If you pay people to stay home and not work, people will stay home and not work. Before long, the shelves are empty. It’s a page ripped right out of communist-style centrally-planned economies… which history has proven are horribly inefficient and lead to exactly the kind of supply chain failures we are witnessing at this very moment.

Those who remain in denial about this reality won’t be able to deny it for much longer, as the retail shelves are starting to run dry as well. Every nation, they say, is but nine meals away from a revolution. Those nine missed meals are arriving this winter, it seems.

We wish Augason Farms the best in resuming operations in 2022, should supply lines improve. However, we are extremely concerned that the picture is going to be far worse 90 days out. And those who fail to stockpile food in the next 30-60 days may find themselves literally starving to death in January / February (or begging FEMA for emergency food handouts).

Comment by KM on October 8, 2021 at 3:22am

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10070199/Schools-told-stoc...

School dinner choice is slashed and staff told to stockpile 'long-life, dried, tinned and frozen food' amid fears suppliers will struggle to keep children fed with shortages this winter

UK canteen supplier ISS has warned 450 schools to stockpile food this winter
In an email, ISS told schools to stock up on 'long life, dried and tinned' products
Food wholesaler BidFood has also warned it is struggling to recruit HGV drivers
The warnings comes amid concerns of a 1978-style 'winter of discontent' for UK

School dinner choices are being slashed and staff advised to stockpile essential food supplies amid fears suppliers will struggle to keep children properly fed this winter due to supply shortages.

ISS, one of the UK's largest canteen suppliers, has reportedly told 450 schools it is having issues with 'sourcing, packing and distribution', predicting that the problem will 'get worse' over the winter and will continue until February.

School canteens were advised by ISS in an email to stockpile 'long life, dried, tinned and frozen' products to make sure children can still be fed in a 'worse case scenario' this winter, according to ITV News.

Meanwhile, food wholesaler BidFood has warned that it is experiencing 'significant' supply pressures and struggling to recruit HGV drivers, blaming the issues on the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

In Lancashire, thousands of pupils are being offered a reduced menu, The Times reported.

'One school this week has not had a delivery of sandwiches. Another, no soup was sent. One school cook has even reported going out and purchasing additional items out of her own money as she was concerned about the choices on offer,' Samara Barnes, a Labour councillor, told Lancashire Live.

'This is a grave concern, especially given the fact that we know some children rely on their school dinner as their only meal of the day.'

The county council has insisted that 'all pupils will still receive a healthy, nutritious and warm meal,' The Times reported, and that it expected to return to the full menu later this month.

The upheaval comes amid a growing shortage of HGV drivers, a nationwide panic-buying spree at petrol stations and growing fear inside Downing Street that supermarket shelves could remain barren until December 25.

Canteen supplier ISS has reportedly told 450 schools to stockpile 'long life, dried, tinned and frozen' products to make sure children can still be fed this winter (stock image)

'No pasta or flour': Schools missing deliveries due to HGV crisis

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling for him to urgently meet school caterers, school governors and local councillors to discuss the crisis after the party heard of 'stark issues' with food shortages.

But Zahawi told ITV that it was 'news to him' that schools were being asked to stockpile food.

Labour's shadow education secretary Kate Green accused the Government of 'burying their heads in the sand' over supply chain issues which have led to petrol pumps running dry and empty food shelves.

In his letter to Mr Zahawi, Sir Ed said: "Across the country, I have heard from Liberal Democrat councillors and schools about some stark issues with food disruption in our schools for our children.

"Parents have endured so much and worked so hard during the pandemic but it seems your Government has failed them yet again. The least you can do is ensure a hot meal at their school for their children.

"For months you and your fellow ministers have been warned about the effects the shortage crisis could have on our economy and our everyday lives, now we see this reality coming true. For you to not have this on your radar is both surprising and a shocking abduction of leadership."

Ms Green has called for a plan to recruit and train more HGV drivers to ease the supply issues, adding: "No school must be left without the food supplies it needs, and no child left going hungry."

There are concerns of a 1978-style 'winter of discontent' for the UK, with skyrocketing energy prices, food shortages and fuel rationing.

In the email, which was sent a week ago, ISS reportedly said it is confident that it will be able to provide food across winter, but warned that it may change its menus at short notice as part of contingency plans.

ISS was said to have warned school canteens that it was already suffering from shortages of fish fingers, with the 'fallback' replacement meal being jacket potatoes.

Amid fears of a winter of discontent, ISS reportedly urged schools to place orders a week in advice, remove sandwich options due to bread shortages, remove unnecessary frozen items, such as ice cream, and 'stockpile' essential items.

A spokesperson for ISS told MailOnline: 'Our priority is always the schools, and the children, whose meals we provide.

'We would like to reassure parents and carers that our ability to continue to provide nutritious school meals is not being impacted by the well-publicised shortages of items that the UK is currently experiencing.

'Naturally, we have contingency plans in place to ensure that a good supply of meals remains in place.

'That contingency planning includes regular communication with our stakeholders during these challenging times for many schools across the country.'

Meanwhile, food wholesaler BidFood has warned that it is experiencing 'significant' supply pressures and is struggling to recruit HGV drivers (stock image)

Comment by KM on September 29, 2021 at 6:15am: Source

ShortageWatch: "Sorry - No French Fries With Any Order, We Have No Potatoes"

Today I’m going to follow up on last week’s issue on shortages. I got a TON of feedback, and the topic even came up at last week’s Federal Trade Commission meeting. The good news is that shortages are now on the political radar, with one FTC Commissioner talking about the rise of “Too Big to Fail” industrial firms causing shortages across the economy.

And now…

"Sorry. No French Fries with any order. We have no potatoes."

In the last BIG issue, I asked you for help identifying shortages in your neck of the woods. Hundreds of you responded, so I’ll talk about some of the shortage stories you are sharing, as well as how this problem is resonating among policymakers.

My favorite story is quintessentially American, and un-American, at the same time. It’s from a Florida realtor who was in a hurry and stopped at a Burger King for lunch. He saw a sign, "Sorry. No French Fries with any order. We have no potatoes." At first he thought he was imagining things. What kind of fast food place runs out of fries? Is this, he wondered, a sign of things to come?

It’s a good question. Fast food exists in a land of plenty, of surplus, of mass produced food with a reliable infrastructure of trucks, trains, farms, and distributors. Shortages of everyday goods conflicts not only with most of our lived experiences, but also with our very conception of who we are. There’s a name for this framework, and it’s called affluence.

In 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith coined the term “The Affluent Society” to describe a nation beyond material concerns, a nation with immense unthinkable wealth. In such a world, with consumer sovereignty paramount, the only way to go without is if you cannot afford something, not if society can’t produce it. Think about all the politicians who say ‘in the wealthiest country in the world surely we can afford XYZ.’ For the last sixty years, with the exception of the oil crisis in the 1970s, we haven’t had to think about production. If you have the money, you can get the stuff. But now our production systems, once so resilient and strong they appeared invisible, are breaking down.

So what is happening in the case of this particular Burger King? It’s hard to say, but the problem is clearly widespread. Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, and Starbucks are having trouble sourcing ingredients, as are school and college cafeterias. Here’s one notice posted on Reddit on school districts having similar issues.

One culprit is the food distribution industry, which is highly consolidated (due to the standard litany of anti-competitive tactics like mergers and exclusive contracts with customers and suppliers). Problems at some of the biggest firms, like Sysco, have even forced summer camps and restaurants in some areas to shut down.

Burger King uses McLane distribution, a leading firm for grocery distribution. McLane is having trouble recruiting drivers, which is a clear problem everywhere. You’ll hear a number of causes for this shortage, from poaching by Amazon to a large number of truckers retiring rather than be on the road during the pandemic. Here’s a BIG reader on the problem.

Truck drivers that would transport cargo on flatbed trucks are being recruited away by Walmart and Amazon to exclusively pull box trailers or shipping containers. Large items like steel piles and premade concrete pieces either can't fit or can't be loaded into containers or box trailers. Vendors tell me demand is as high as 40:1, meaning for every available flatbed truck there are up to 40 waiting customers. The roads around the NYC metro area are as clogged with truck traffic as ever, but we're facing longer waits and higher prices to haul non-containerized cargo.

If you listen to transportation executives, they’ll tell you the real cause. “It comes down to money for drivers in many respects,” said Mark McKendry, regional vice president of intermodal at NFI Industries. “If we get the pay right, you know, we’ll have a little more flexibility.”

Driving a truck, which used to be a middle class job in the 1970s, has become a cyclical low-paid profession with high burnout and little stability, a so-called “sweatshop on wheels.” While it’s tempting to blame this situation on trucking firms, the reality is that the problem is due to the market structure of transportation created by the deregulation of the 1970s. Prior to deregulation, state and national regulators set routes and prices for trucking firms, which allowed for sufficient margin to make trucking a unionized well-paid profession. Such rules raised shipping prices and were often needlessly bureaucratic, but also ensured the system would be stable, free from ‘ruinous competition,’ as well as absurd drops and spikes in pricing and wages.

Jimmy Carter, however, and a litany of Democrats, simply hated the union representing truck drivers, which was the Teamsters. Carter advisor Alfred Kahn, the economist who later deregulated airlines with Stephen Breyer’s help, was explicit about lowering trucker wages and breaking their political power. (Kahn, not coincidentally, is beloved by center-left antitrust scholars.)

The deregulation of the 1970s forced trucking firms to compete against each other to offer lower shipping prices, and the way they did this was by lowering pay to their drivers. Trucking on a firm-level became unpredictable and financially fragile, so for drivers the scheduling became nightmarish and unsustainable, even if the pay during boom times could be high. Today, few think trucking has a future, and even though pay is high, the scheduling is crushing drivers. And so, because we’ve allowed an unregulated trucking system for decades and treated truck drivers like crap for forty years, increasingly we can’t count on getting french fries from Burger King.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/shortagewatch-sorry-no-french-f...

Comment by KM on September 23, 2021 at 9:46pm

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10021231/Now-PETROL-ration...

Downing Street is bracing for a new 'Winter of Discontent' after BP and Tesco RATION fuel and shut stations, supermarkets warn of food shortages and energy firms go bust as gas prices soar

Oil giant BP has said it cannot maintain petrol and diesel deliveries due to the lack of lorry drivers in the UK
The news is the latest sign of industries in the UK struggling to cope with the shortage of HGV drivers
Avro Energy and Green yesterday became latest energy firms to go out of business amid soaring gas prices
Wholesale prices for gas have increased 250% since the start of the year, and by another 70% since August
Meanwhile, food supply chains have been placed under intense stress by the HGV situation and a CO2 crisis
Downing Street said this afternoon 'we acknowledge there are issues facing many industries across the UK'

Downing Street today signalled it is bracing for a 'winter of discontent' after BP and Tesco were forced to ration fuel and shut stations, supermarkets warned of food shortages and more energy firms went bust amid rising gas prices.

Number 10 said this afternoon that 'we acknowledge there are issues facing many industries across the UK' as the nation heads into the colder months.

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman insisted there is no shortage of fuel and urged people to continue to fill up their vehicles 'as normal'.

The spokesman stressed the UK has 'very resilient and robust' supply chains, but the admission of challenges ahead is likely to spark fears of potential disruption.

BP has said it will restrict deliveries of fuel because of a lack of HGV drivers, which has also impacted supermarkets and raised fears of food and even toy shortages over the Christmas period.

The oil giant is understood to have informed the Government that its ability to transport petrol and diesel from its refineries is being heavily impacted by the supply chain crisis.

BP's Head of UK Retail, Hanna Hofer, told the Cabinet Office last Thursday that it was important that the Government understood the 'urgency of the situation' which she branded 'bad, very bad'.

Ms Hofer warned that the company had 'two thirds of normal forecourt stock levels required for smooth operations' and that levels were 'declining rapidly'. The restricting of deliveries is expected to begin 'very soon'.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of Tesco petrol stations closing or running out of fuel in Dorset, the Isle of Wight and Devon. ExxonMobil, which operates Esso, added that some of its 200 Tesco Alliance sites were affected.

The news is the latest sign of the UK struggling to cope because of an ongoing shortage of HGV drivers which comes alongside a worsening energy crisis.

Avro Energy and Green yesterday became the latest energy firms to go out of business as soaring gas prices continued to batter the sector.

Wholesale prices for gas have increased 250 per cent since the start of the year, and 70 per cent since August, meaning firms are buying energy for more than they sell it to customers.

Nine firms have now ceased trading this year, with the head of regulator Ofgem warning more are likely to follow suit, leaving 'well above' hundreds of thousands of customers in limbo.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today suggested people should be hoping for a warm autumn to ease gas prices as he said the weather is the 'single most important determinant' of costs.

Food supply chains have been placed under intense stress in recent weeks because of the shortage of around 100,000 HGV drivers - with empty shelves across many UK supermarkets as a result.

Supply chains were further disrupted after two plants that produce 60 per cent of the UK's CO2 were shut down amid the rising gas prices. CO2 is used for everything from the humane slaughter of chickens and pigs, to putting the fizz in soft drinks and creating packaging that keeps foods fresh.

Now, there are fears that shortages could bite households in the run-up to Christmas.

The classic Christmas dinner could be decimated, with turkey, pigs in blankets, potatoes and brussel sprouts all at risk. Meanwhile, toys, vinyl and books could also experience shortages - with experts even warning of Christmas tree issues.

Despite the Government agreeing a deal to restart production at the CO2 plants, industry bodies have warned that consumers may still see a hike in food prices, particularly if the cost of carbon dioxide rises.

The Government's deal with CF Industries is only in place for three weeks - leading to fears that the issues could start up again in the run-up to the festive period.

An out of use sign on a petrol pump at a BP garage on Speke Hall Road, Liverpool. The HGV driver shortage has hit oil giant BP with deliveries of petrol and diesel to forecourts across the UK set to be reduced

Comment by KM on September 21, 2021 at 3:02pm

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10011957/10-DAYS-fix-CO2-c...

warnings that Britain could face food shortages in a WEEK with up to 100,000 pigs needing to be slaughtered on farms and put in mass graves

Two fertiliser plants that produce 60 per cent of UK CO2 have stopped running
The decision means the food industry in the UK is facing disaster within days
Food and Drink Federation boss Ian Wright said there could soon be shortages

A deal to end the C02 crisis could be done today, Kwasi Kwarteng has said amid fears that Britain only has a week before food shortages hit.

The Business Secretary said he is hopeful of an 'imminent' breakthrough after intense discussions with key producers - with taxpayers expected to pay up to solve the problem.

A 70 percent rise in wholesale gas prices in the past month has prompted US-owned CF Industries to temporarily shut down its two fertiliser plants in Teeside and Merseyside

As a by-product they produce 60 per cent of the UK's CO2, which is used in a staggering range of areas from food to the nuclear sector and NHS.

The gas is used to stun animals for slaughter, package meat and also in refrigeration systems. It is also used in fizzy drinks, beer, cheese, fruit and vegetables and crumpets, among other items.

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Kwarteng said: 'Time is of the essence, and that's why I spoke to the CEO, speaking to him twice in the last two days, and we're hopeful that we can get something sorted today and get the production up and running in the next few days.'

Mr Kwarteng conceded 'it will come at some cost… it may come at some cost, we're still hammering out details, we're still looking at a plan'.

But he added: 'I have to say if there is support provided, that will be on a temporary basis, that's not something that we want to do indefinitely.'

Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, warned certain goods will be in short supply unless an urgent solution is found

Food Shortages - State of Emergency

Sri Lanka raids private warehouses after declaring a state of emergency due to food shortages

Supermarket shortages may last 'FOREVER': Food and Drink Federation chief gives stark warning that the days of shoppers getting anything they want are 'over' - as farmer says crisis is 'killing small business'

Drought forces North American ranchers to sell off their future

Your Food Prices Are at Risk as the World Runs Short of Workers

Farms are set to kill and burn 100,000 pigs because of a post-Brexit butchers' shortage: Industry chiefs vent fury at Priti Patel for leaving key staff off list - but keeping ballet dancers

You need to be a member of Earth Changes and the Pole Shift to add comments!

India's rice export ban triggers panic buying at US supermarkets - sparking costs of 20-pound bag to soar from $16 to almost $50

Major storable food supplier Augason Farms ceases operations for 90 days, citing collapsing supply chain

School dinner choice is slashed and staff told to stockpile 'long-life, dried, tinned and frozen food' amid fears suppliers will struggle to keep children fed with shortages this winter

ShortageWatch: "Sorry - No French Fries With Any Order, We Have No Potatoes"

"Sorry. No French Fries with any order. We have no potatoes."

Downing Street is bracing for a new 'Winter of Discontent' after BP and Tesco RATION fuel and shut stations, supermarkets warn of food shortages and energy firms go bust as gas prices soar

warnings that Britain could face food shortages in a WEEK with up to 100,000 pigs needing to be slaughtered on farms and put in mass graves

SEARCH PS Ning or Zetatalk

Donate